Together
by Dara Tavar
Summary: Emily and Victor are about to be married when Emily notices Victoria standing off behind Victor's back. This is the man she loves, so can she really take him away from the woman that he loves? And even if she does decide to let him go, what will Victor decide? Will he decide to spend eternity with his living bride...or with his corpse bride? Who is his real true love? R&R please!


**This is my first Corpse Bride story. I actually wrote it a couple of months ago, but just went back and did a little revising and added some stuff to it-and now it is ready to be uploaded. Get ready for several stories to come out, now that I have some time for the summer to get some writing done. Anyways, R&R.**

**Oh, and I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to get stuff out there...I had some personal issues to deal with recently (and still waiting to see how that all works out), and then when I was getting back into writing, I got really sick. But now I'm feeling better (not 100%, but I'm working on it) and soon I'll be getting more and more out there!**

**Enjoy!  
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**DT**

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**Together**

"For I will be…" Emily glanced over Victor's shoulder, seeing Victoria standing off to the side, hiding behind a pillar. She nearly dropped the bottle of poison in her hand, shocked to her core. "I will be," she began again, looking back into Victor's eyes. He nodded his head, and she heard the Goodman encouraging her to continue, so she did. "You're cup will never empty, for I will be…" she trialed off, unable to finish, seeing the pain in the other woman's eyes. Could she really put this woman through the same pain and heartache she'd gone through herself so many years ago?

"I will be your wine," Victor finished for her, looking down at the glass in his hand and slowly raising it to his lips.

Just before the liquid touched his mouth though, Emily pulled the cup away, her eyes downcast and sad. He looked at her in confusion and hurt, whispers coming from the audience of both living and dead crowded together on the old wooden pews.

Emily drew in a breath, flicking a glance back at Victoria before returning her eyes to the man who was her living groom. "I can't," she whispered to him, shock registering on his face at her words.

"What's wrong?" he asked in response, and seeing her eyes turn behind him once more, he began to turn around. What was it that was keeping her from allowing him to make his wedding vows?

Emily touched his cheek, drawing his eyes back to hers. "This is wrong," she told him sadly. She looked on his handsome face, as if memorizing it before drawing in a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment. "I was a bride. My dreams were taken from me. Well now…now I've stolen them from someone else. I love you, Victor. But you are not mine…"

Tears crowded her eyes, and he hated the sight of them gathering there.

Her hand dropped from his face, but he didn't look when she held it out, off to his side, as if to someone behind him. Instead, he pulled it back to him, laying it over his beating heart. "But I am yours, my love. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize it, and perhaps I should have told you this before, but I do love you—more than anything. There's no one I'd rather be with than you, because you are my true love."

"What?" she asked in shock. This hadn't been how she'd seen this going in her head.

"When I first woke up below with you, the skeletons said that you were waiting for your true love to come and set you free. In the woods I hadn't been looking for you, it had been an accident that I said my vows and placed the ring on your finger, but at the same time I have never done anything more right in my entire life. In all the times when I tried to recite my wedding vows, I was unable to do it. But the moment I was in your presence, something came over me and I said them perfectly—and I believe it was all because of you. I was meant to be with you. I've never felt more alive than when I have been with you, darling." A soft smile crossed his lips. "That accident was the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"You can't mean that, Victor…"

"But I do. How else could you have woken up that night if I weren't your true love? I am your true love, just as you are mine. There's no denying it, dearest."

"You're only saying it because Victoria isn't in front of you." Emily said, shaking her head slowly. She knew he loved Victoria, knew that they belonged together—they were both living, after all. "If she were…"

"She's not. Victoria is standing behind me." At her surprised expression, he smiled a little more. "I knew she was there the whole time, darling. But I wasn't going to say anything. She married another man, and I wish her all the happiness in the world with him. And I am about to marry the woman I love—you, and don't ever think any differently."

He turned around to look at Victoria, feeling a little guilty when staring into her pained eyes. "I am sorry, Victoria, but it never would have worked out between us. Though I did love you, we're just too different, honestly…" he trailed off, uncertain how to explain.

Suddenly it struck him and his expression lightened. "Do you recall the first day we met? The conversation we had about marriage?" When she nodded, he continued. "You told me that you had always dreamed of marrying someone you were deeply in love with and would spend the rest of your life with, and I agreed." He turned around and took Emily's hand in his. "Well I have. She's everything I ever thought I would want, and now I know that what I believed to be a mistake in the woods was actually my destiny. When you walked down the aisle to me, I'd never seen anyone more beautiful—and I'm ready to embrace my afterlife with you."

"But, Victor," she started to say, but he shook his head.

"I want to be with you, even if that means only in death. I want to spend all eternity by your side, making music together and dancing our afterlives away. I will love you for all of our undead life, and I promise that I won't regret a moment of it…there's no one I've ever felt that I could be myself with more than you. When we played the piano together, I knew—without a doubt—that you were the one for me. We make beautiful music together, Emily…let's not stop now. Let's make music for the rest of forever."

They stood facing one another, looking deeply into each other's eyes. There was something there that none of them had ever seen before. Victoria realized that, at least to Victor, she would never hold a candle to this corpse bride…because she had never been meant for him, this woman had.

"I love you, Emily."

"And I love you, my dear. I have been waiting an eternity to be with you," she told him in a soft voice, sweeter than he'd ever heard.

A hush grew over the audience as even Victoria moved and sat down. Victor lifted the cup from where Emily had taken it and sat it down on the table. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine."

Emily smiled brighter than ever before, true happiness in her features. Finally, she was going to get her happily-ever-after. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine."

Emily watched as Victor lifted the glass once more to his lips, this time not stopping him. She watched as he swallowed the liquid that would end his life, and wished she had stopped him. While they were going to be together forever now, the idea of watching his life come to a closing was one that terrified her. If she truly loved him as she claimed, shouldn't she have stopped him?

Victor sat the empty cup down, turning to look into the eyes of his beloved. He felt the poison begin its work, and gasped, his eyes growing wide as he clutched at his chest. His knees gave out under him, and he fell into Emily's arms.

She gently lowered him to the ground, cradling his head in her lap as he struggled to breathe. She felt tears come to her eyes as she watched the life slowly fading from his eyes. One fell on his cheek and she quickly brushed it away. "Hush, my love. It will all be over soon. In just a moment, you'll see, dearest."

The last breath escaped his lips, his eyes drifting closed. He lay without moving for several long moments, his skin turning a pale blue similar to that of Emily's own skin. The crowd was tense and no one spoke, awaiting the awakening of Victor in his death.

After another moment, his eyes fluttered briefly, and then opened. The first thing he saw was Emily's face hovering above his, her eyes filled with worry. He saw her in a different light than ever before, death having opened his eyes in a way that they hadn't been in his life.

Everything was different now.

He felt her hand on his cheek, and it was no longer cold to the touch. They were the same temperature now.

"Emily," he whispered, her name no more than an amazed breath on his lips. His eyes were wide with wonder as he looked on her beautiful face.

Getting to his feet, he looked down at himself, noting the blue tint to his skin before returning his gaze to her.

"With this candle, I will light your way in darkness," he continued, as if nothing had ever stopped him. He took the candle from the table, waiting as Emily repeated his words and lifted her own candle. Together they lit the unity candle sitting in the middle of the table.

Victor slipped his hand into his pocket and removed the ring that Emily had worn from the moment they met up until they'd agreed to make their wedding official. "With this ring, I ask you to be mine."

Emily held out her hand, holding her breath for the first time in ages. Victor slipped the ring onto her finger, a smile brightening both of their faces. "With this ring, I ask you to be mine," she repeated, letting a golden ring drop from the stem of her bouquet. One of the women had given it to her while she'd been getting her dress fixed.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your corpse bride," the Goodman said, a smile on his own face now, as everyone else stood up and clapped their hands, cheering for the newly married couple. "I give you all, Mr. and Mrs. Victor Van Dort."

Victor took her into his arms and pressed a kiss to Emily's lips, the first kiss they'd ever experience together and the first of what was sure to be the best marriage among the dead as well as the living. No one had ever sacrificed as much for true love, and no one had ever received as much in return.

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**Let me know what you think of these two and I might write some more about their undead life together-I've got an idea, but I just don't know if I want to do it or not. Leave me a review!**

**DT**


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